One of our colleagues recently closed down his LinkedIn account after being on the social network for close to six years. Considering that most of our clients, partners and staff are on the network, we found it a bit odd that he would decide to close his account. After all, if everyone is virtually out there, it really must be valuable. Don’t you think?
The question got us thinking about Social Media on a bigger scale.

Brands have flocked to Social Networks, investing tons of resources in their varied profiles and personas over the years. But how many of these investments actually pay off?

Having one or more strategic social media presence is definitely worth the investment. Otherwise, the world’s biggest brands such as Coca-Cola, Nescafé, Lego and several others wouldn’t be investing so heavily. There is, however, the concept of “sunk costs” to take into consideration.

Most people consider Social Media to be a long-term investment. Nobody really begins building a presence on Facebook expecting to reap the rewards barely a week later. It’s safer to say that most of us in the game agree with the idea of investing regularly in your digital presence so as to build enough traction, improved traffic, wider audience, strong-enough search position or whatever it is that you’re hoping to achieve. And it’s usually the most consistent, patient and strategic profiles that reap the greatest rewards. But what happens when you have been investing in a particular digital activity (a LinkedIn presence, for instance) for several years and are yet to see any return on investment? Do you write off the investment made so far and move on to other options? Or do you continue investing so as not to lose out on everything you’ve invested so far?

We asked our colleague about bidding good-bye to LinkedIn after being on the network for so long. Having gained no benefit from being on LinkedIn, he felt it better to close the account than continue in the same manner. Granted, there’s little work involved in maintaining a LinkedIn profile; but dealing with spam and answering queries or requests could take up quite some time. In this case, definitely more time than what was perceived to be worth the reward.

Applying the same ideology to a corporate presence on LinkedIn (or any other social network, for that matter) it’s important to know when to draw the line, close the curtains and otherwise cease investing stubbornly in something that you’ve gained little or nothing from. Far too often, we have come across brands that continue to invest year after year, keeping their fingers crossed that things would eventually pick-up and start delivering the very results they’ve been hoping for.

Our intention is not to say “don’t invest” in a variety of social networks. We’re big advocates of experimenting and connecting with your audiences on new and innovative platforms. The point, however, lies in knowing when to draw the line. Focus your efforts and attention on investments that are paying off. The boundaries and limits vary from situation to situation as well as from brand to brand; in fact, you alone will know the right time to throw in the towel.

Far too often, have we dealt with or come across brands maintaining several social media accounts – many of which end up rotting away. In some cases, a social media presence may not be something your brand needs, at least for now. The resources you might invest in an unnecessary social media presence could be better utilized in other, ownable areas of the web. Analyze your requirements carefully and if you need help, give us a call. We have a solid, intelligent team that can support you throughout this process.

Our colleague mentioned that he had been planning to leave LinkedIn for quite some time, but couldn’t muster the will to do so, wondering if the investment done this far had been futile. He had built up a decent profile, made a number of connections and had been very comfortable using the service. He finally pushed himself to question if his investment (regardless of how little) was worth the reward of being on LinkedIn. He decided it wasn’t and finally moved on.

We advise you to do the same with your social media investments. Look back at your original objectives and question, considering whether or not a continued investment is worth a try.

Technology is constantly evolving and your audience is incredibly fluid. There are a few very stable platforms – such as Facebook and Twitter – but new ones mushroom from time to time. You need to remain open-minded and continue experimenting, without being afraid to call it quits if one of your investments starts to become more of a hassle than it’s worth. Just because you have hundreds of thousands of followers or friends doesn’t make a continued investment worthwhile. A few thousand impactful relationships on a new, alternative platform may end up proving to be more worthy of your attention.